"It's just your carrier and somewhere, out there across the vast sea is the other waiting to pounce on you. That's great atmosphere."
"...you can't just send units in and let the AI do the rest, oh no..."
"Nowadays nobody would dream of a strategy game with such sparse AI but if Carrier Command had any more the delicate balance would be lost."
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Carrier Command is a strategy game like no other. The story goes that a new island archipelago has formed in the 'Southern Ocean' due to volcanic activity. The islands are rich in minerals and other deposits and two aircraft carriers have been selected to populate and mine these islands. The carriers were deployed at either end of the island chain the idea being they would meet in the middle. Unfortunately, the second carrier which was built after the first and furnished with extra equipment, has been taken over by terrorists. It is also fully computer-controlled whereas the first carrier requires a human Commander on-board. The game's objective is to thwart the terrorists within 48 hours game time. The game is conducted in flat-shaded 3D where you can view from a first-person perpective or via remote camera depending on the context.
When the game has loaded you can choose whether to go for the 'Action' or 'Strategy' game. Well, actually they're both strategy but the 'Action' option pitches you into the game a little further on when you've captured a few islands.
So why do I reckon it's a strategy game like no other? Firstly, there's a certain eerie loneliness as you play. Normally in a strategy game you're frantically sending people off to gather resources while you build up your army - not in this game. It's just your carrier and somewhere, out there across the vast sea is the other waiting to pounce on you. That's great atmosphere.
Secondly, when you do conduct battle you can't just send units in and let the AI do the rest, oh no - you have to pilot every single one. At this point I should just let you know what hardware you get to play with. Obviously there's the carrier itself which is equipped with a laser turret, surface-to-surface missiles, decoy flares and defence drones. The laser turret is pretty useless as it is not responsive enough to shoot down aircraft and to target buildings you have to get so close as to jeopardise the carrier. It does have a zoom camera which lets you do a bit of reconnaisance. Missiles are fired by selecting targets from a viewing drone which is launched high into the air from the rear of the carrier. Defence drones are deployed in a sacrificial role in selectable configurations around the carrier and decoy flares are pretty much self-explanatory.
You also get WALRUS amphibious vehicles which can attack islands but are usually wiped out fairly quickly. Normally they are just used to deliver a virus bomb to convert a hostile island or drop off the Automatic Command Centre Builder (ACCB). This payload constructs a Command Centre on the island thereby making it yours.
Being a carrier you also get aircraft: the Manta jet fighter. These can be launched configured with a laser, bombs or missiles.
Islands are either friendly, hostile or neutral and friendly islands can be designated Defence, Resource or Factory. They are also linked in a web-like resource network. This means that to progress you must make sure you have a chain of islands linking your position to your home island. A good tactic is to try and capture an island in the middle of the enemy's chain thereby cutting of his supply line. Sooner or later he's going to have to come to retake it.
As I mentioned earlier, you have to control everything. You can have up to four WALRUS craft and up to four MANTAs active all at the same time. You can set a destination and put them on autopilot but it's quite simple and only plots a straight line course so it won't avoid obstacles which, incidentally, damage vehicles. So you have to either control them one at a time or if you're really good you can point them in the right direction and flick through each vehicle performing the required action at the critical point. For example, you can launch two MANTA aircraft and fly them toward an island. Set the autopilot destination on each to be the carrier position. Fire the missiles on the first MANTA when the target is in range and hit autopilot. Now switch to the second MANTA and do the same. Switch back to the first MANTA in time to land it. Phew!
It's that sort of thing which makes it unique. That and the simpler, more innocent way it has been constructed. Nowadays nobody would dream of a strategy game with such sparse AI but if Carrier Command had any more the delicate balance would be lost. I'm afraid I've only glossed over the surface of this marvellous game. If you want to find out about it for yourself then play it on the Atari ST, Commodore Amiga or PC. If you like strategy with atmosphere you won't be disappointed.
- Rob
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Carrier Command
